Layer Hens

Battery cages are completely barren – Hens in battery cages experience extreme confinement and behavioural restriction, without enough space to...

For layer hens to experience good animal welfare it is important they have enough space to move freely and express...

Hens’ use of the outdoor range area in free-range housing systems is dependent on multiple factors. These factors include the...

Severe feather pecking is an injurious behaviour performed by birds, where they will vigorously peck at and pull out the...

Consumer awareness of and demand for higher welfare food is growing and consumers need to be able to make an...

Cage-free systems for layer hens include free-range, barn, and aviary housing systems. Cage-free systems are beneficial for hen welfare because...

Layer hens will normally lay their eggs in an enclosed nest, perch, forage, and dust bathe ​[1, 2]​. The ability...

Beak trimming is the practice of removing the tip of a bird’s beak to blunt or round its end. Beak...

The RSPCA is strongly opposed to battery cages and believes there must now be a legislative phase-out of their use....

Avian influenza (AI), commonly called bird flu, is a highly contagious viral disease of birds worldwide. The virus is spread...

In the egg industry, the sex of day-old chicks is determined at the hatchery. Sexing chicks (determining whether they are...

Barn-laid eggs are a good alternative to cage eggs, and a well-managed barn that provides enrichment for the hen can...

Induced moulting in the poultry industry involves artificially forcing hens to moult through manipulating their environment and diet to replicate...

Hens are smart, quirky and inquisitive creatures. Descended from jungle fowl, they still possess instincts strongly aligned with seeking shelter...

Meat chickens and layer hens, the main types of poultry farmed in Australia, are two different breeds of birds and...

Pullets are young layer hens before they have reached sexual maturity and start laying eggs. At one day of age,...

All layer hen housing systems have advantages and disadvantages, but caged housing systems inherently compromise the welfare of layer hens...